On the Tuesday
after Spring Break I was able to meet with Hissa, my conversation partner, for
our fourth meeting. As per usual, it was a great session and I learned a lot
about her growth with the English language.
We started off by
exchanging Spring Break stories, her depicting her trip to California and me
describing my journey to Florida. From what it sounds like, she had an
absolutely wonderful time in California. She got to stay at a friend’s house in
Newport Beach (an extremely nice area of Southern California about 20 minutes
south of where I live), and was able to visit both Universal Studios and
Disneyland while getting plenty of sun. She said her favorite part of the trip
was getting to stay an extra day and sitting out on the beach until sundown. Honestly,
it kinda made me miss California! (Just a little of course…) One of the things
she mentioned that I thought was very beneficial for her growth in the English
language was her being forced to use her English on her travels. She explained
that all of the people she encountered, from the flight attendants to the
hostesses at restaurants, did not speak Arabic (obviously), forcing her to use
the English she knows to convey her thoughts. I think it is good for her to get
out of her ESL community and use her English with more native speakers, and it
sounds like this vacation was a great chance for her to do just that.
After we chatted
about our vacations for a good thirty minutes, she began to tell me about her
new task: purchasing a car. The day before she and her sister had gone out and followed
an ad from Craigslist to a mid 90’s Jeep. However, when she arrived, she found
the car was in very bad condition. Apparently the car had been in a minor
accident recently, and the owner neglected to mention that on the ad. I advised
Hissa to use Carfax.com to see whether a used car has been in an accident, and
suggested to try a used car dealership. She told me she would continue the hunt
this week and would let me know how it was going during our next meeting
(tomorrow).
Although we have
only met four times, I feel like I can see a definite improvement in her
overall use of English. Having a fluent speaker to practice with makes all the
difference, and I’m a little sad that we only have two more meetings for her to
practice with me. Nevertheless, it was another successful session and I await
our next one.
Brian,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good post! As an American I find Disneyland a completely overwhelming experience, so I can only imagine what Hissa felt! Perhaps this spring break, for Hissa, was an immersing experience, just like when Americans are thrown out of a school setting on their study abroad experiences and are forced to fend for themselves with the language skills they have. From what I've heard, it is what really makes you a good speaker so I am not surprised by the improvements you have seen in HIssa's language skills, even just after spring break!